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While single-tree selection, uneven-aged management is being used increasingly on southern national forests as an alternative to clearcutting and planting of pine, its effects on wildlife are largely unknown. We compared breeding season bird abundance, species richness, diversity, and composition among uneven-aged stands and six seral stages of even-aged stands in...

Monthly average ambient concentrations of gaseous nitric acid (HNO3) and ammonia (NH3) were monitored at the Athabasca Oils Sands Region (AOSR), Alberta, Canada, between May 2005 and September 2008. Generally, concentrations of both pollutants were elevated and highly variable in space and time. The highest atmospheric...

Little is known about factors that structure biodiversity on landscape scales, yet current land management protocols, such as forest certification programs, place an increasing emphasis on managing for sustainable biodiversity at landscape scales. We used a replicated landscape study to evaluate relationships between forest structure and avian diversity at both stand...

We used state and transition models to integrate natural disturbances and management activities for a 275 000-ha landscape in the central Oregon Cascades. The landscape consists of a diverse mix of land ownerships, land use allocations, and environments. Three different management scenarios were developed from public input: (1) no management except wildfire suppression...

The response of woody and herbaceous vegetation to site preparation, subsoil texture, and fertilization was measured on the West Gulf Coastal Plain. The influences of these treatments on competing vegetation were short-term. Drastic soil disturbance and fertilization briefly increased herbage production. Shear-windrow and shear-disk were generally the most effective...

We compared indices of total hard mast production (oak and hickory combined) in 20, second-growth, pine-hardwood stands under five treatments to determine the effects of different reproduction treatments on mast production in the Ouachita Mountains. We evaluated mast production in mature unharvested controls and stands under four reproduction cutting methods (single-...

Abstract - Because the relationship between stand density and hard mast production is not clear, we investigated the effects of varying total overstory basal area (BA) on acorn and hickory nut production in the Ouachita Mountains. We used Whitehead visual surveys to estimate mast production in oaks (Quercus spp.) and hickories (...

Abstract - Concern for many migratory landbird species has led to an increased emphasis on managing ecosystems at scales beyond the stand level. We characterized breeding bird numbers, species richness, diversity, and evenness on four watersheds in the Ouachita Mountains of west-central Arkansas. These four watersheds represented different ownerships...

Abstract - We studied spring songbird communities in a predominantly forested landscape in the Ouachita Mountains of west-central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Relative bird abundance, species richness, diversity, and evenness values are presented for the first, third, and fifth years following harvesting in four replications of four regeneration...

Abstract - We studied winter small mammal communities in the Ouachita Mountains of west-central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma using Sherman live traps in four replications of four regeneration treatments (clearcut/plant, shelterwood, single-tree selection, and group selection), plus four mature, untreated "controls." Data on relative small...

The authors monitored white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of riparian zones (RZ?s) and adjacent pine plantations of 3 age classes (young, 1 to 3 years old; intermediate, 5 to 7 years old; and older, 9 to 13 years old) using radio telemetry for 2 years on a 1,300 ha study area near Alto, TX. Riparian zones comprised 22.0 percent of the area; young,...

Forest policymakers, public lands managers, and scientists in the Pacific Northwest (USA) seek ways to evaluate the landscape-level effects of policies and management through the multidisciplinary development and application of spatially explicit methods and models. The Interagency Mapping and Analysis Project (IMAP) is an ongoing effort to generate landscape-wide...

Combustion emissions and strong Santa Ana winds had pronounced effects on patterns and levels of ambient ozone (O3) in southern California during the extensive wildland fires of October 2007. These changes are described in detail for a rural receptor site, the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, located among large fires in San Diego and Orange counties. In addition,...

An exotic fungus, the chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica Murr. Barr), decimated the American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata Marsh. Borkh.) throughout eastern North America in the first half of the 20th century. The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS), The University of Tennessee, and The American...

Abstract - Recent policy changes have eliminated clearcutting as the primary pine regeneration method on Federal lands in the Southern United States. However, the effects of alternative natural regeneration methods on soft mast production are unknown. We compared plant coverage and mast production of 37 soft mast-producing plants among four...

The more xeric south- and west-facing slopes of the Ouachita Mountains of west-central Arkansas once supported fire-maintained shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) forests with a well-developed herbaceous understory. Fire suppression following the original harvest of these forests resulted in forests with increasingly abundant woody vegetation in the...

Forest structural features at the stand scale (e.g., snags, stem density, species composition) and habitat attributes at larger spatial scales (e.g., landscape pattern, road density) can influence biological diversity and have been proposed as indicators in sustainable forestry programs. This study investigated relationships between such factors and total richness of...